


red tide

by discountghost



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous Relationships, Blood and Gore, Gore, Implied Relationships, M/M, Mermaids, Sea Elements, Sirens, Violence, siren!Jimin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 07:47:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23347903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discountghost/pseuds/discountghost
Summary: Red tide at night, sailors delightRed sky at morning, sailors...take warning.
Relationships: Kim Namjoon | RM/Park Jimin
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29
Collections: MC&B Fic Fest 2020





	red tide

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Nopepng](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nopepng/pseuds/Nopepng) in the [MythicalWorldFest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/MythicalWorldFest) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Mermaids are generally thought to be these beautiful water creatures, with big sparkling eyes, long flowy hair and voices so beautiful they would make everyone fall for them with a single song.
> 
> Namjoon is really wondering, then, what this creature on his boat is - it keeps hissing at him, baring its sharp teeth, striking at him with its seriously fear-inducing claws, screeching in a pitch so high it might just shatter his eardrums -
> 
> It says it's a mermaid, but apart from the tail this - thing doesn't have anything in common with one.
> 
> Now what the hell was he supposed to do with it?
> 
> Or, mermaid!jimin, who can definitely sing, but is very scared and lonely and generally prefers screaming at people
> 
> Do: make jimi a carnivore we love us some blood, think of some reason why he can't go back to the sea yet - an injury, illness,...
> 
> Don't: make it all about smut. A lil dickin is fine but pls don't have it be all that important 
> 
> Bonus: if smut, make it monsterdick pls and thx

The red sky loomed over him, his stomach twisting itself up in knots.

Namjoon had set out before the sky had lightened, the world dark and quiet. He knotted the ropes on his boat a little tighter than needed, wrung his hands out as he cast glance after glance to the clouds and the water. The boat rocked gently on the waves. It had not come yet, the thing the skies warned of.

_ Red sky at night, sailors delight. _

“Red sky at morning…” 

He let the words hang in the air, incomplete but understood to his lonely crew of two. Jungkook milled about behind him, passing the small spaces they could afford on their tiny fishing rig — a boat just right for the two of them. The boy had insisted that he could make these early shifts. The silver band on his finger flashed in the reddened rays of the sun and Namjoon swallowed. He sent a silent prayer that whatever was coming would pass them by and the other would return safe to his beloved. He’d promised he’d make sure of it.

The first signs of a disquieted sea came slow. The water turned choppier and seabirds passed them by. They were far from the shore, miles out. It was where the fish swam in plenty, but the birds followed them out to desolate waters. Now, though, they fled. Turned tail and headed for land. Some perched on the boat, squawked a warning most likely, and then took off after their short rest.

“Jungkookie.” The brown haired man turned to face the older, sleepy eyes turned up to meet his gaze. “Start tying down the cages. I’ll shut the engine off.”

The other nodded, blinked and turned his gaze to the sky. The last traces of red fled behind the clouds. Jungkook had not been on the boat with Namjoon for long, but he knew the rhyme just as well as he could recite every word of the poetry his husband Taehyung wrote. His eyes, already large, widened more and he set to work without further delay. Namjoon turned to the cabin, hurried inside the tiny. He had to duck his head to avoid hitting the long hanging light, but he made quick work of killing the engine.

Now, it was just a matter of time. Jungkook joined him and they managed to squeeze themselves into the small space in a somewhat comfortable manner. 

“Hey, Namjoon-hyung.”

“Hm?”

“Why do storms come with red skies?”

Namjoon tilted his head back. The sky above them, from the tiny square of window, had not cleared. “There’s...something to do with the position of the clouds. Let's us see the sun’s rays from somewhere else; I don’t remember it exact.” He looked back to the younger, shrugged. “But it’s not just storms.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jungkookie, there’s a lot more than storms for us to be afraid of at sea.”

The younger’s brows furrowed, but his expression remained mostly blank. After a moment, he blinked, cocked his head to the side, “I don’t get it.”

“You will. Hopefully not any day soon.” Namjoon gave a small, rueful smile.

Before anything else could be said, the boat rocked. Fiercer than before. A violent rocking that shifted things in the tiny cabin marginally. A thudding resonated around the boat, like something had struck the vessel. Namjoon swallowed, turned his gaze back to the window. The waves whipped around them. Any sort of movement was made more difficult with each passing second, the rocking violence increased. The thudding continued — then stopped. They rocked back to stillness for a moment. Whatever had hit them had passed them by.

They were quiet, save the sound of their heavy breathing. Sweat pooled at the nape of Namjoon’s neck, cooling against his shirt under his numerous layers. It felt like they wouldn’t be enough. They were still for a moment before there was another thump. The water sprang to life; fish broke the surface of the sea as they fled whatever it was after them. Dozens hopped aimlessly out. A number of them landed on the deck, flopped underfoot as Namjoon tried to get back to the cabin to turn the engine on. If it was a shark, they’d be fine so long as they got away and kept out of the water. But something at the back of his mind whispered that it wasn’t  _ just a shark. _

He felt like he’d swabbed the inside of his mouth with cotton. He wet his lips, tongue darting out over the cracked flesh as he made careful steps through the mess of floundering fish. Little thumps from them knocking against the boat and then stillness again. He froze. His palms itched, tingled. His gut churned, but he turned to look all the same. Jungkook wasn’t on the boat.

How could Namjoon have missed the splash? He rushed to the railing, stumbling just before it over fish. He knocked into it, the cold bar hard against his palm and impact only lightly padded by his clothes. The water’s surface was undisturbed; no bubbles. 

“Fuck.” Namjoon reached for the net, grappled with it in his haste and panic. He’d promised to bring Jungkook home. He’d  _ promised. _ Over the rail the net went, sinking down below. He pulled it over to where he suspected the other might have fallen in, and where whatever the thing was that was terrorizing them now had gone to. Something snagged onto the net and Namjoon pulled. If he was lucky, it was Jungkook and he could save him.

In a way, he  _ was _ lucky. Fortune had not turned her back on him yet. Jungkook’s arm laced through the net awkwardly, as if it had been shoved in between the ropes. But even with the weight of water and an unconscious man, the net was too heavy. The water churned the further up Namjoon pulled the net, his stomach doing a similar motion as the water beneath reddened. Jungkook’s head lolled to the side as Namjoon pulled him up, wincing as he took on the full weight. He used his hip to pin the net to the rail, holding it in place despite whatever struggled to move it. 

Jungkook’s legs made it over and the man groaned; a sign of life. Namjoon might have laughed. He couldn’t be too sure. He propped his crewman up against the rail and turned his attention back to the net in the water. The struggling had still continued, but it had been weak to begin with and only seemed to grow more so. A tail peaked the water as he pulled, and a renewed vigor filled the fish. 

“Hyung…” Namjoon’s head jerked to the side, wide eyes on Jungkook. The other man breathed deep, frowned as he coughed up water. “Something...it — it  _ bit  _ me.” His voice hit a note akin to panic, his alertness coming slowly. 

“You’ll be fine, Kookie. We’ll patch you right up soon.”

Jungkook let out a gaspy breath, but said nothing in response. Nothing that Namjoon could hear.

His mind ordered things to do in accordance with their importance. Make sure they caught what did this. Patch Jungkook up. Go home. The fish on the boat would have to do; he wasn’t risking any further injury to Jungkook or himself. The rope tugged against his gloved hands, slipping between his fingers as creature fought him. It pulled enough that the material pulled so fast he could feel the heat on his finger through the gloves. Whatever it was was strong. But not enough to escape him.

The tail breached the water again, pulled higher up the side of the boat. Namjoon took a step back, pulled harder. He strained, the muscles in his arms already beginning to ache with the drawn out struggle. But just as they tired, so did the creature. Maybe it was unused to such a contest of its own strength because soon there was no longer any movement. It felt like a dead weight. His jaw ached from how hard he clenched it as he walked back the rope, grip tight — 

The creature thudded onto the deck. Namjoon stumbled back, catching himself on the railing. A gasp followed in the stillness, then another. And another. Whatever it was sounded human, struggled for air until it realized it had no need to. Nails dragged along the deck, scraped into wood as the creature pushed itself up with its arms. Its head hung low, long tendrils of hair covering its face. The creature breathed in deep and Namjoon noted — almost absently, as if it were something that he didn’t need to think too hard about — that it was half human. That its upper body, though mostly covered in grime, was that of a young man and the sailor’s breath caught in his throat.

Its scales were dull with the much and grime of the sea, as if it had pulled itself from the filthiest reaches. Namjoon slid down against the rail, butt hitting the deck hard. He chuckled as the creature huffed and dragged itself towards him a moment before it froze. Lifted its head into the air until a cute button nose peeked out from behind a curtain of dark hair. And then it swung its head in Jungkook’s direction and Namjoon lunged for it without thinking.

He tipped his head back, stared into the sky. The sun sat on the horizon, a blazing ball of light watching from afar. He looked beyond it to the nothingness that was ultimately filled with something and then closed his eyes before he thought too hard about it. Behind his eyelids burned the recent memory of patching Jungkook up. The older had needed to remove both jacket and shirt from the younger. The creature had bitten right through the material and the inner parts of the jacket had soaked up both blood and water. If not for it blocking the wound soon after Namjoon had pulled him out of the water, Jungkook might have bled to death. Now, though, the man slept soundly in the cabin.

Namjoon turned his head in the direction of it, eyes opening to stare through the window at the younger man for a moment. He was propped up, head lolled to the side as his chest rose and fell with his breathing. He’d fallen asleep after a bout of screaming, when Namjoon had hastily stitched up the bite. The needle threading through flesh was still an echo on his fingertips. He turned his attention back to the creature, sighing.

Half man, half fish. Shark; his tail gave him away. It didn’t gleam like the scales of salmon catching the light. It was dull, even when the sun hit it. The rope had been torn in places where they’d rubbed against the scales. He swallowed, sniffed as he stooped low. The creature was asleep much the same way Jungkook was, but had been brought to such a state in a less than kind manner. That, too, burned on his fingers as he recalled the brush of his knuckles over gills. He shut his eyes again.

The call of gulls was familiar. It buoyed him in the sea of his distress, fingers hiding his face. The decision to turn the boat right around had been one made with haste. But he wasn’t regretting it. Even if they hadn’t caught anything, they still had a deck full of fish that he couldn’t be bothered to clean up. He stood amongst the sea of fish, dying or dead. Feeble flops and gasps for air from those that had been hardy and somehow still lived. He watched them before pressing his boot down and silencing them to pass the time.

The docks were soon in sight and he rushed to get the boat in line. He trampled over the fish with much less care now, more concerned about the potential damage that would come to his only means of an income. He could make other trips, even if this one had been a dud. He scowled in concentration as he tied the boat to the pier, glancing over his shoulder to see if there was anyone around.

They’d come back too early for anyone else to be there. The other boats had gone, leaving mostly those that were meant for pleasure. His scowl shifted to a rueful smile as he turned to get Jungkook. The engine shuddered as Namjoon turned it off, waking the younger. Jungkook blinked blearily, sighed and gave a shudder of his own. He was still out of it, mostly; a bottle and a half of cheap whiskey would do that. 

“Wha’ happened?” Jungkook wasn’t slurring as badly as Namjoon had expected, and that meant he might still be able to walk on his own.

Namjoon shrugged. “You fell overboard. Gave yourself a nasty cut in the process and I had to fish you out.” The smile he sent the other was tight. The younger stared at him a moment with narrowed eyes, as if he didn’t believe what he’d just been told, before he hissed and let his head fall back. The pain was kicking back in.

“‘M sorry. We had t’ turn aroun’?” 

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it. I’ll go back out later.”

“I didn’ mean t’ cause any trouble.” Jungkook sucked a breath in through his teeth, sat forward. “‘ll be more careful nex’ time.”

Namjoon smiled, easier this time. But he said nothing. The other  _ should _ have been more careful, but he suspected that there was more to it than being a little negligent. 

“Did you find where the screaming came from?”

His brow twitched. “Screaming?”

“Yeah, I thought…” Jungkook blinked, eyes widening a moment before he blinked again and scowled. He rubbed his temple with his good hand, the hand of his left twitching as if it wanted to mimic doing the same thing. “I thought I heard screaming.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“Oh.”

They were quiet a moment before Namjoon slapped his hands on his thighs, startling the other out of his other out of his stupor. “Well. Let’s get you home. I haven’t had the chance to call Taehyung, so you’re gonna need to break the news to him.” He grinned, slapping the younger on the back as he stood.

“Gee, thanks, hyung.” Jungkook winced, as if the prospect of telling Taehyung of his injury caused him more pain than he was already in. “He’ll have my head.”

“I know.”

Namjoon guided him out to the docks, made sure his larger frame blocked the sight of the creature from the other. Hair fell in Jungkook’s face as he cupped the other’s cheek and gave him one more smile. He watched the other stumble his way up the pier and back to solid land, flinching once or twice when it looked like he might topple over. That was one problem out of the way.

The other was nestled in a bed of rope, tied firmly to the rail. For a moment, Namjoon feared that he might have killed it. It had been still and quiet for so long. But there was the sign of its form shuddering, breaths pushing up slightly. He stared down at it, the sun blazing up ahead. The chill of the sea breeze was gone now; just the heat of the morning. He wiped his brow as he considered what to do next. Well, he needed to get it away from here, from the boat. He couldn’t throw it back in the ocean; what if it got someone else?

He swallowed. He couldn’t have that on his hands. He glanced around for the cooler they used to haul the fish onto land and to the market, an idea forming. The creature was slender; small enough that he might fit. It would just be a matter of getting him in there. Once he’d spotted what he needed, Namjoon was moving. He pulled the cooler closer, piled a few fish on the bottom as if that would serve as some sort of cushion. Maybe it would. He didn’t know. One he felt there was a sufficient number on the bottom, he worked on cutting the creature from the ropes. He mourned silently for the net; he’d only bought it three weeks ago. An investment. But that didn’t matter now. He could save for another.

He pulled his gloves back on, wriggled his fingers as he turned his hands over to be sure there weren’t any holes in the fabric. The creature was still, stretched out now. He could make out full, lush lips scarred with teeth marks. The nose he’d seen before now wasn’t quite so much a button, but would have been an endearing feature no less. Namjoon sniffed again, nose filled with the stench of fish and the sea and something rotting. He hooked his hands first under the creature's arms, turned it so he could slide it back towards the cooler. He glanced over his shoulder, suddenly paranoid.

The docks were quiet. No one but empty boats. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He had to move fast before  _ someone _ showed up and thought he was trying to dispose of a body. He let the creature rest against the side of the cooler before his hands went to its tail. This part was lighter than he had expected. It was easy to through it over the side of the cooler, letting the creature’s back hit the deck as he did so. It was much harder to maneuver it into a fetal position inside over the fish. He worked at it for several minutes before the thing was in the cooler on its side, tail bent and pressed up against its chest. He threw more fish in over it, and shut the cooler with haste.

One part down; now to the next.

He cast more cursory glances about to be sure that docks were still very much empty. The single sign of life other than him was the light on in the little building for security. There was usually only one guard on duty at all times and the cameras didn’t reach this far. He could easily make it past and to safety to deal with the creature if he remained calm. It was with a shaky breath that he hefted the cooler onto the wooden boards of the pier, tipped it back to rest on its wheels.

Namjoon kept his gaze trained on the steps that lead onto land, brows furrowed. He blinked sweat from his eyes, pulled his gloves off with his teeth to swipe at his forehead with the back of his hand. Mouth occupied, he could only nod and raise his brows in greeting, a short wave to follow as he went past the guard’s station. The woman on duty tipped her hat to him and gave a smile of understanding as he went by.

From there, the journey home had been easy. It was early and most were just beginning to stir in town to run their errands and walk their dogs. To send their children off to the local school. They greeted him or ignored him, as was the case. Dumping the creature into his own bathtub had been more difficult than getting it into the cooler, especially when he awoke. The response was immediate. It gulped down a lungful of air before letting loose a shriek that made his eardrums rattle. He covered his ears and backed away before he lunged forward again.

He didn’t  _ want _ to hurt it. Not after it had been out for so long. Instead, he held up his hands and attempted to yell pleas that would combat the screaming until it ran out of air. Using that opening, he dropped to his knees. The creature froze. He couldn’t tell if it blinked, hair long and covering its eyes. 

_ “Please _ stop screaming!”

Maybe it stopped because it didn’t understand Namjoon, but there was stillness. Namjoon cracked one eye open, the other still squeezed tightly shut. Gooseflesh rose on his arms as he opened both eyes to find the creature staring him down. It’s hands gripped at the smooth porcelain of the lip of the bathtub, shoulder hunched and teeth bared. Teeth that fit together like a razor sharp puzzle. It sniffed, craned its head to the side but kept its teeth on full display.

The voice that spoke to him was hoarse, tired. “Where am I?”

“In my house.”

“Why?”

“I pulled you from the ocean.” It hissed; not the answer it wanted. “You got caught in my net when I was trying to save my friend.”

“Why didn’t you just let me go?”

Why hadn’t he? “I didn’t want you to hurt anyone else.” That was it, but there was something else. Something that nagged at the back of his mind as he stared the creature down. The fear had slinked away from him, left him full of thoughts that he didn’t need. 

“Put me back.”

“What?”

“Put me back where you found me.” The creature’s voice rose an octave, high. Was it panicking?

“I can’t do that.” His own voice surprised him. Firm, resolute; like he truly meant it. He swallowed, drew himself upright. “I can’t let you back out into the water.”

The creatures hissed a moment before it faltered, slipped back into the water under Namjoon’s gaze. He felt a tingle in his neck; something familiar and forgotten. It surprised him, and didn’t all at once as the realization hit him. The same realization must have come to the creature because it shrunk further back into the bath. Its hair parted enough that now he could see eyes peering up at him. Frightened, by edged in the hardness of desperation. 

“What are you?” Namjoon could guess — could feel the answer rattle in his bones and burrowing aimlessly beneath his skin — at what he was. But he needed to hear the answer for himself.

“I—” The creature’s back hit the other side of the bath. It glanced behind itself a moment, fingers tight on the tub. “I’m a mermaid.”

The laugh Namjoon barked out startled it. “No; you’re not.”

“Yes, I am!” The mermaid seemed affronted, a scowl pulling at plump lips. 

“You scream; you don’t sing.”

“I—”

“You’re a  _ shark. _ I’ve never seen any mermaids that were sharks.”

“Then, what am I?” It was probably meant to be a challenge, but his voice was small and lack strength. A weariness settled over the mermaid, shoulders slumping.

Namjoon crossed the small distance to the other with ease, sighing. How long had it been? He could feel the restless call to the sea echoing in his mind. A distant thing that he heard always that howled now. Screamed at him for ignoring it. “You’re not a mermaid.” It was all he offered.

The creature blinked up at him, confused. Brows knit together as he stared up at the sailor. His lips worked as he thought, tried to make sense of it. “What  _ am _ I?”

“You’re a siren.” He sucked in a breath, ran a hand through his hair. “I would know.”

“But sirens sing. I — I can’t.” The creature ducked his head, embarrassed by this admission.

“There’s — it’s a lot to explain.” Namjoon scratched at the back of his neck. The itch remained. He wanted to crawl out of his skin. “But it’s something rare. Special.” A pause. “Why did you attack my friend?”

“I was — he.” The creature stopped. Didn’t bother with giving an answer before, “My name is Jimin.”

“Jimin, why did you attack my friend?”

“He got — he heard me. I was trying to...to sing and he heard me and called out.” The siren let out a shaky breath and for a moment Namjoon feared it would try to scream again. The acquience of earlier made more sense as his tail swished in the water, twitched nervously. “I was scared. He was big and he was coming and —”

“He wasn’t going to hurt you.” Jungkook was not someone that Namjoon would associate with violence. It had taken him so long to get used to that. To see the other behave more like a rabbit than the hound he’d thought him to be. Heavy lidded eyes turned to Jimin then. “He was trying to save you. That’s what your voice makes people do. Make them want to save you.”

He watched the color drain from Jimin’s face. “N-no. They hurt me! They try to tie me up in their ropes — like you did!” He hissed, bore his teeth again. He stopped, though, as he took in how unmoved Namjoon was.

Pity seeped into him. An emotion he seldom felt. He was too old for it. “You didn’t understand.” He patted the rim of the tub, stood up fully. “You didn’t know. That’s okay.”

Jimin shuddered, drew away from the rim as Namjoon stood. But he was quiet, even if it looked like he wanted to say something more. Namjoon didn’t know why it was that he was this way, but there had to be a reason. 

“You can rest in there.” And with that, Namjoon turned away.

He let Jimin stay in the basement. 

That was where the spare tub had been. He locked the door from the outside, carried the key with him when he left. The itch remained present for the following days. He wanted desperately to claw at his neck whenever he brought the other food — meat swimming in blood on a delicate plate that had no business being in his hands. He’d dump the slivers of meat in the tub, watch the water change from a pale tan to a murky brown with each feeding. He made light conversation — could it be considered light to ask how he’d survived to this point? — as he changed the water out. 

“Why are you keeping me here?” Jimin asked it so softly, Namjoon had thought he’d been hearing things. It wouldn’t be unlikely with how his mind had digressed.

“Because I can’t let you go.” It was the truth. He couldn’t. But now it was more than just wanting to make sure the other wouldn’t accidentally harm someone. He worried. His bones ached. Namjoon sucked in a breath, mopping up the water that had splashed out onto the wood floor up. The floorboards creaked. “How will you survive? I picked you up so easily.”

Jimin flushed, shrugged. “Just like I always have.”

“But it’s different now, isn’t it? You aren’t a mermaid.”

“My family...why did I have a family if I’m a siren? Don’t they...live alone?” Namjoon snorted, propped his chin up on the mop to look at the siren.

His own existence was a good enough example of that. When was the last time he’d seen someone even closely related to him? They were dead; he was sure of it. It wasn’t hard to outlive them. That much he knew. “Sometimes the circumstances allow for it.”

“Like…?”

“Like.” Namjoon sighed. “Like if your mother was a mermaid. Or your father. Then they would be forced to give you to the other side if they thought you might be a mermaid.” Namjoon sniffed, gave his head a little shake. It reeked down here. “You  _ feel _ like a mermaid.”

“They were wrong.” Jimin swallowed, looked down into the empty bath.

Another sigh. “But now you can figure out how to move forward from here.” He paused. “Maybe somewhere far.” But another thought hit him. A thought that made the itch worse. “Do you know how to use your legs?”

“Legs?” Jimin looked at him as if he’d grown a second head. “I don’t have legs.”

“Yes, you do. Sirens and mermaids do.” He set the mop back in the pocket, filing away the new information with ease. He must be young for their kind if he didn’t know how to use them. “It’s how they find food if they can’t get any in the water.”

Jimin's jaw went slack, lips just barely parting. “How do I do that?”

“It’s not hard. I just —” He stopped himself, closed his eyes. “You just think about it. Focus on the idea of legs.”

“You said I—”

“That’s not focusing.”

Jimin pouted, but turned his attention to his tail. The sallow grey appendage stretched out in the bath. He was small, even for a shark. Namjoon didn’t know what kind he was; he’d look into it later. He doubted it would become of much use to him, though. He watched as the other glared down at the tail, brows furrowing. Then the siren jolted in the tub, hands flying up to grip at the rim. A startled cry left him.

Namjoon might have felt his stomach churn if this had been years ago. The first time he’d seen something like this, it had been horrifying. Watching the literal flesh melt away from bone was sickening. Chunks of it falling away to reveal the slender bone beneath. His were sun-bleached to a pristine white. Jimin must have floated up to the surface, been picked at by birds and fish alike. Namjoon dropped his gaze.

The other’s pain danced around the room. High notes of agony, tinged with the bitter epiphany that with change came pain. It was horrendously poetic, given what the other was. He smiled to himself, small and knowing, as the other’s cries died down. They faded into whimpers as the siren rested his head on the lip of the tub. His hair had fallen back into his face. The long strands hid the sight of the tears he could hear.

The sea had made a mistake with him.

“Shall we go out to eat?”

Jimin wobbled on his feet, drowning in Namjoon’s clothes. They had to find pins for his pants so that they would keep from sliding off his waist. He snorted as he watched the other roll up the sleeves of his flannel and the pant legs so he could walk and use his hands. The fabric of the flannel dropped back down whenever he lifted his hands, shook them back so that they wouldn’t get in his way. Namjoon had turned back around to the sight and wondered, very seriously, how he had come to be. The shoes...they’d decided that he would have no choice but to slip his feet into Namjoon’s slippers. The weather was fair enough that this wouldn’t be too odd.

The siren stood, mesmerized now that he was done dressing. He wiggled his toes, flexed them one by one before looking up at Namjoon. He didn’t grin or smile, more like gaped like a fish. Namjoon snorted again, beckoned him closer. His hair was still a wild mess that needed to be tamed. He started first by picking the bits of seaweed from his hair, smoothing it back into a low ponytail with a brush. The other held still — almost perfectly, if not for a few moments of fidgeting with his borrowed clothes again — as Namjoon worked. He hummed quietly to fill the silence. Jimin’s hair was still very much an unruly mess when he pulled the rubber band around it, but it was a much more maintained mess. He could, for the most part, see the other’s face more clearly.

Round and youthful; he couldn’t have been around for very long. His years were becoming abundantly clear. He had to guess the other was in his early twenties. Maybe a little older. One eyelid closed more than the other at a resting state, or when he cast a quizzical look in Namjoon’s direction. Had he been staring for too long? He shrugged, gave the other a small smile before directing him to the door. The other moved as if he’d never had legs before, hands out to catch himself should he fall. He reminded Namjoon of those videos of young deer, wobbling their way into the world. 

The weather had been fair when he’d last looked. Now, though, the rain pummelled the earth. Outside, people rushed to and fro with their umbrellas. Some seemed to forget themselves, carrying newspapers that were drenched over their heads or snagging bags to hold above them. Namjoon sighed, glanced down at Jimin and his exposed toes. 

“You can wear my boots.” He had several pairs; he’d grown out of them over the years and some were worn down, but still held a merit of sentimentality for him. 

He fetched them as Jimin watched the rain, eyes big as they absorbed the sight. But it was more in longing than in fascination and he was soon pouting as Namjoon handed him boots and an umbrella. A chuckle startled the siren from his pout as he shoved his feet into the boots. The moment was broken as Namjoon opened the door again. Rain beat down on the ground, filling the air with natural drum beats.

By the time they had reached the tavern, Jimin’s too big boots squelched with each step he took. The sloosh of water trapped inside didn’t seem to bother the siren. He seemed to like it, actually. Namjoon didn’t comment on it. He found them a seat in a small booth towards the corner, gesturing for the other to slide into one side before he slid over the cracked material of the other side. 

“Hyung!” He turned his head in time to see Jungkook. His two front teeth were on prominent display. He was very much the rabbit that Namjoon had come to know him as. “I didn’t think you’d be out.” At his arm was a man with curly hair and bright eyes, a small pout on his lips. 

“I’m still mad at you.” The man stuck his tongue out at Namjoon, who smiled in return. “Who’s this?”

Jimin stared up at them. “This is Jimin, a friend.” Namjoon swept a hand in the direction of the couple. “This is Jungkook and Taehyung.”

Recognition seemed to flash over Jimin’s face and he ducked his head, cheeks red. His lips worked with an apology that didn’t make it past them. He glanced up at Namjoon like a scolded pup. He shook his head and the other looked up at the pair. “Nice to meet you.” His voice was no higher than a murmur.

“Aw, is he shy?” Taehyung didn’t wait for an invitation. He plopped down in the seat beside Jimin, boxy smile on full display. “It’s nice to meet you, too! Are you staying in town for long?”

“He hasn’t decided on that yet.” Namjoon’s interjection was met with an odd look he couldn’t quite place. Jungkook looked nervous beside him, something crossed between a grimace and a smile settling on his face.

“How’s fishing been, hyung?”

He hadn’t left the house much. He couldn’t go too far from Jimin, even if he locked the door to the basement. It wasn’t like the other wasn’t sentient. “It’s been okay.” He shrugged. “Kind of hard to do without my best crewman.” Jungkook ducked his head sheepishly, nursed the drink that he’d brought over with him.

Another voice cut through their conversation, the chatter from Taehyung continuing. “What have we said about moving tables? How are we supposed to bring your orders out if you suddenly disappear?” Namjoon cast the couple accusatory glances before smiling up at Seokjin. The cook had one hand on his hip, the other effortlessly carrying a tray full of food. A scowl sat on thick lips. “How hard is it to just wait until I come out and  _ ask _ me to take it to a new table?” He sighed, then without looking at him, “Hello, Namjoon. Who’s your friend?”

“His name’s Jimin!” Taehyung was growing attached. Good; Jimin would need friends. “Isn’t he so cute?”

As if to prove the other’s point, Jimin’s cheeks colored and his nose scrunched up. Jin’s expression softened minutely. “Yes, yes, he’s very cute. Now,  _ please, _ stop table hopping.”

“But, hyung, wouldn’t you complain if we asked you to move the food with us?” Jungkook just barely avoided a swat to the back of the head.

Without a verbal agreement being made, it was soon understood that Namjoon and Jimin would be splitting a meal with the young couple. Taehyung occupied the siren with idle chatter, and what Namjoon suspected were stories about him. He eyed them a moment, before he looked back to Jungkook. He was using both his arms as he usually did, but one was favored over the other in a way that was almost unnatural. He was still healing, but that was to be expected. He was surprised the other wasn’t wearing a sling for how much Taehyung had chewed him out when he’d found out.

The younger three of their quartet stood, and Namjoon blinked. “Darts?”

“Yeah!” Jungkook nodded, ecstatic. He slumped momentarily. “I can’t play so much now, but Taehyung wants to show Jimin how to play.”

“You mean, you can’t show off to your new friend like you usually would.” Jungkook groaned and Namjoon chuckled softly. He shook his head when they asked if he wanted to play, saying he’d rather just watch. He wasn’t much good at it, anyways.

He watched them play for hours. The hardness of confusion and uncertainty left Jimin. Taehyung, in his need for constant contact, had his arms looped around the other as if they had been friends for years. A soft smile remained on his lips as he watched the trio.

Jimin looked forward to their evenings out. He would chirp and titter like a little bird when Namjoon so much as hinted at going to meet Jungkook and Taehyung. They’d gotten him clothes that would fit him more, but he gravitated towards taking Namjoon’s clothes still. Explaining that left him pretending to hide the swell of pride in his chest as he watched Jimin hop around the tavern in something two sizes larger than him.

Their night had started out no different. Namjoon passed a brush over Jimin’s hair — “You do it better than I do.” The dark tresses were soft to the touch now, less exposure to harshness of the sea. The salt couldn’t dry out the strands. 

“Do you enjoy being with them?”

“Yes! Taehyungie is very nice.” 

Namjoon’s smile widened. “See; there are nice people.”

“Yeah…” Jimin’s expression darkened. “But not a lot.”

Namjoon paused, thinking. The brush continued down Jimin’s hair as if he’d never stopped. The siren hummed for a moment. “Jimin...what did they do to you? How did you get like this?”

“They…” The mirror showed a lot. Before, it would alert Namjoon if he’d caught a tangle, but now it caught something else. Jimin’s expression morphed; went from angry to sad and then angry again. “They caught me. They saw only my fins and thought I was a shark — they took them while I hung over the side of their boat and when they saw my upper half —” The siren shuddered, leaned back slightly into Namjoon’s touch as if it would soothe him.

Namjoon knew the story well. “They tried to turn you into a sideshow.” He would have made them a pretty penny. Good money that would have given them no need to fish for their rest of their life. 

“People came to gawk at me. But my fins hadn’t grown in yet. They screamed, and then I screamed back.”

“How’d you escape?”

“They put my cage too close to the rail. Without my fins, I —-” He swallowed, rubbed his thighs as the memory came upon him. “I slipped through the bars and into the water. It was. It was so  _ hard. _ Swimming like that; it felt like they were burning.”

“The sea was healing you, but that comes with a price.”

“Yeah…” Jimin locked eyes with him in the mirror. “How do you know so much?”

He countered one question with another. “How were you born, Jimin?” 

The siren faltered, brows furrowed. He brought a hand to his temple. “I don’t...I don’t remember. I remember floating for a long time. I was sad; so sad. And then, my family finding me. But I don’t remember anything else.”

“That would explain it.” He wasn’t like Namjoon. He wasn’t like other sirens, either. Something in him snapped. He pressed his lips to the back of Jimin’s head, wrapped his arms around the other. “But are you sad now?”

“No. I feel...happy. Calm?” He hummed, leaned back further into Namjoon’s touch. “It’s nice here.”

Namjoon drew back to finish the braid, patting the other on the shoulders. “All done.”

“Namjoon.” Jimin’s voice was small. “Will you tell me why you know so much?”

“One day.” They left it at that.

It was like any other evening. It hadn’t rained in a couple days, which left Jimin a little pouty, but Namjoon had grown used to that. It was tempered by the siren being let out of the basement. He was steadier on his feet. Namjoon no longer had to walk with his hand on the small of the other’s back, but he did it anyway because the siren seemed to like it.

They ate, and Jimin played darts. Namjoon attempted to join, but soon found himself discouraged from playing by the others when his dart had missed the board entirely and almost hit Jin in the shoulder. (“It’s not my fault shoulders are so broad, but  _ please _ don’t use me for target practice.”) There was an amiable air to the place and Namjoon knew that Jimin had found his peace. For the most part. The itch at the back of his neck remained; a constant reminder that he’d been reintroduced to something that he’d long forgotten.

“You like him.” Namjoon nearly choked on his drink as Yoongi sidled up to him. The smaller had arrived silently.

Namjoon mopped up the spilled liquid with a napkin. “No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do; you only smile at him.”

“I smile at everyone.” Namjoon frowned down at the other.

“You pretend to smile at us.” Yoongi looked up at him with all the ease of someone who  _ knew. _ Namjoon’s stomach coiled. “You think we can’t tell, but we do. You only come out with him now.”

“That’s not true.” It was. “I come out when you guys ask—”

“When we  _ ask. _ Not willingly.” Yoongi shrugged. “That’s okay. You’re just...you’re you. I’m as much a homebody as you, but I understand. It’s because you care about him, and it’s what he wants to do.”

“He’s a social creature.” It was said weakly, a smile accenting it.

Yoongi barked out a laugh. “Interesting way to describe a person.”

“You’d say the same about Hobi.”

The other laughed again, patted the counter weakly as the bartender shuffled over. “What’s that about me?” His heart shaped smile distracted Yoongi enough that he let up on the topic, but that didn’t mean that he’d forgotten. The older eyed him suspiciously for some time.

Jimin pranced up to Namjoon, sporting a smug look. “I won!”

“Is that so? Good job.”

Jungkook groaned, hands on his hips. “And just when I was back in shape.” Taehyung patted him on the back and whispered something that had his cheeks reddening. Namjoon preferred not to know what was said.

He stood, sliding his empty glass further up the counter. “You ready to go home?”

“Yep!”

“So soon? You guys just got here.” Taehyung draped himself over Jimin, pouted. 

“We’ve been here five hours, Tae.” He smiled, pulled the other off the siren. “It’s almost midnight.”

“That’s when it comes alive!”

“Good night, Taehyungie.” Jimin nearly melted into Namjoon's side, a grin on his lips. 

The rain had started as they left, a light drizzle that barely wet them. They walked slow in it, fingers laced together. Jimin regaled Namjoon with a retelling of the dart matches for the night. Rain drops clung to his hair, tembled in the strands as he moved. But then he stopped, froze in the middle of the sidewalk. His gaze slid away from Namjoon and to some distant corner beyond him. And then he was off.

The glow of his eyes was the only warning that Namjoon was given.

At first, the sailor was not sure how to react. No; he did know. It was just a matter of giving the other space. His gut churned as the rain picked up. He trudged through puddles quietly, already sure of what he would find. By the time he reached them, his clothes were soaked through. 

The girl, understandably, was shaken. Sopping wet and shuddering. Her mouth worked around incoherent sentences. At the squelch of his boots, she looked up and scrambled towards him. Knocked right into his unmoving frame. “I— he — they. He ate him. He attacked me, but he’s being eaten. What the  _ fuck _ —”

Namjoon smiled down at her, nudged her away while he pressed his fingers to his lips. He shucked his outer layer off, put it around her shoulders and turned her away. He couldn’t hear her footsteps in the rain, but he assumed she was gone. Now, he could turn his attention to Jimin.

He sighed and the siren looked up, the quivering body of the girl’s attacker quivering beneath him. The man choked on his own breath and blood, gurgled softly. Jimin had torn into his throat. The flesh bore muscle and blood in equal parts as it pooled beneath the body. The man couldn’t be saved, even if Namjoon had wanted to. 

But Jimin had not started by ending the man. One of his legs bent at an unnatural angle, a tear deep in his side. Namjoon could see bits of his lungs through his ribs, stuttering in their weak inhales. His arm was nearly ripped clean from his shoulder, deep gouges that resembled dozens of teeth marks covering it. Blood ran over the ground, soaking into rain full grass, the nearest drain, and soaking into Jimin’s clothes. Stray bits of flesh and blood had gotten into the siren’s hair.

Jimin seemed to realize what he was doing a second too late. He swallowed, eyes flashed a blue to rival the sea on a good day. Then it faded as his expression twisted. He shoved himself away from the man, now a corpse, until his back hit the brick wall behind him. 

“I didn’t mean to!” He chanted it over and over again as Namjoon approached, stepping over the man like a dead fish.

“I know you didn’t. It’s okay; you couldn’t help yourself.” Namjoon crouched down in front of the siren, hands up. “You’re okay, Jimin.”

Fingers coated in blood covered his face. “No, no! I did something bad!”

“You saved someone’s life.”

“I killed someone!”

“He would have killed her.”

Jimin stilled, peeked out from between his fingers at Namjoon. 

“You saved her. The police probably wouldn’t have been able to catch him if you didn’t.”

“Really?”

No. They probably would have and then he’d get the equivalent of a slap on the wrist; perhaps a year or so for his crimes. And then he’d be out to do as he pleased. “Really.”

Jimin sniffed, reached out his hand to Namjoon just as voices rounded the corner. Panic replaced the relief that he’d only just obtained and he was up on his feet, running. Namjoon ran after him this time. It didn’t take him long to catch up to the other, hand finding his as he steered them toward the pier.

It felt familiar. The itch in his neck grew to a burning sensation that traveled up and down his spine. Jimin sobbed at his side, stumbled. He fell and hissed, his knees kissing the ground. He slipped from Namjoon’s grasp. The sailor skidded to a halt, backtracked as the voices caught up to them. Flashlights danced, bobbed and weaved through the storm. He pulled the siren to his feet. He kept their pace even as he too slipped and nearly fell.

Their feet beat hard against the wood of the dock. He glanced over his shoulder. He could still see the lights. They were joined by others; the floodlights of the docks were soon on. He groaned, shut his eyes against the too bright lights as he turned back around. He tripped, through the siren forward. The breath from his lungs was knocked out of him. He wheezed, scrambled forward toward the siren who lay too still. The creature whimpered as he crawled toward him.

Namjoon swallowed as other footsteps vibrated through the wooden panels of the docks. His legs ached and his body shuddered. His bones screamed for it. 

“Just leave me.” Jimin whimpered, shook his head. He struggled to get up, pushed himself as far as his elbows. “Jimin, you have to go. Get in the water.” He smiled, hard enough that he could feel the dimples at either side of his lips. “You’ll be fine.”

The siren wavered, sobbed. But he crawled his way to the edge of the docks, slipped off the planks and splashed into the water. Namjoon sighed, suddenly exhausted as the people were upon him. “I didn’t get to kiss him.” The guard pulling him to his feet blinked, confused.

“I should have told him how beautiful he looked.”

The wind pulled at his hair. Tousled it as if his own fingers had gone through them. He frowned down at the waves, waiting. Namjoon had been waiting for so long, he wondered if there was any point in waiting at all. The rail bit into his arms.

“He’s coming.” Jungkook sounded so sure. The years hadn’t taken that from him. But he’d gotten older; he was sprouting his first gray hairs. “You shouldn’t worry so much, hyung.”

Namjoon wrinkled his nose. “You shouldn’t call me that when you look older than me.”

“Maybe you should consider aging. Or is that a mermaid thing?”

He smiled at that, shrugged. “Dunno; I’m not a mermaid.”

He felt the press of a little body trying to squeeze itself between them. He glanced down to see the other’s son, grinning up at the two of them. “Am I gonna meet Uncle Jimin today?”

“Hopefully.”

“Fins! I see fins!” Namjoon jerked to alertness, followed Taehyung’s voice. The other pointed into the distance, binoculars pressed to his face. When he removed them, they’d left circles over his eyes. His grin was boxy, flanked by smile lines that had set in. 

They stood together as the fins were no longer a distant thing. The fin moved closer, split the water as it went. Sweet song filled the air and Namjoon grinned.

“Welcome back, Jimin.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> To the prompter: I considered including a smut scene, but I felt later that I wouldn't need it. I'll write you up something nice and spicy later on ;)
> 
> I touched on it a bit, but shark finning is a very real and serious thing that threatens shark populations around the world. Sharks are caught, their fins cut, and then they're discarded into the sea. They're sometimes still alive, and without their fins, they sink to the ocean floor where they either die of suffocation or being preyed on by other predators. As much as we tend to dislike sharks, they're still a valuable part of our oceans and should be cared for. Consider spreading the word about this, and tell your local body of water that you're sorry before the siren that lives in it comes to get you.


End file.
